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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614799">Closure</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/happydaygirl/pseuds/happydaygirl'>happydaygirl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Last phone call, Missing Scene, One Shot, big brothers Nicky and Joe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:40:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,183</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614799</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/happydaygirl/pseuds/happydaygirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"I just really want to hear my Mom's voice one more time...."</p>
<p>Three days after Booker is banished, Nile gets her wish.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>160</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Closure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">The dial tone seems to ring for an eternity.</p>
<p class="western">They are still in London, holed up in a penthouse suite in a swanky hotel in the centre of the city, courtesy of Copley-Each low beep of the international tone reminds Nile of how far she is away from home. How far away from her former life she is, and her family.</p>
<p class="western">Nile sits on a low leather sofa sandwiched between Nicky and Joe, facing the London skyline that stretches out as far as she can see. A city of glass, steel and concrete.</p>
<p class="western">Joe has the phone in his hands, face set in a worried expression as the phone continues to ring out; Nicky has a hand on Nile's knee, his hand a welcome grounding weight as she tries to stop anxiously jiggling her legs up and down as she waits for the phone to be answered.</p>
<p class="western">
  <em>Why isn't she picking up?</em>
</p>
<p class="western">Andy is in the bathroom, soaking her wounds in the bath with a glass of wine- she has been quiet since they arrived three days ago minus Booker. Nile followed the boy's leads, had left her alone as she so clearly wanted. She would come round eventually, she figured.</p>
<p class="western">The dial tone continues ringing, and Nile can see that Joe is itching to terminate the call. He was against this from the start- he knew how dangerous contacting family members could be, they all did. Nile had officially been “killed in action.” Abrupt. Terminal. Final.</p>
<p class="western">Nile had been angry at his refusal, had pleaded with them all to make it happen. She had to hear her voice one last time.</p>
<p class="western">A few words had been passed between Joe and Nicky, words Nile didn't understand, couldn't comprehend in her grief, but soon enough Joe had come to her with a proposition.</p>
<p class="western">One time only. For closure. Never again.</p>
<p class="western">Nile had accepted, her only choice of course. Joe had made her promise not to speak, to not make a sound, whatever she heard. He had configured the phone to only show “unknown number.” Untraceable.</p>
<p class="western">Now they were waiting. Nicky's hand moves from Nile's knee to her shoulder, squeezing lightly as Nile's heart threatens to burst from her chest; Nicky could almost feel her nerves, how it consumed every fibre of her body.</p>
<p class="western">Suddenly, a click. Everyone tenses- Joe sends a warning look to both Nicky and Nile. Nicky clasps Nile's shoulder now; not only to comfort, but also to have leverage to move her away if needed.</p>
<p class="western">'Hello?'</p>
<p class="western">Nile's hand shoots to her mouth, her eyes prickling with tears as she hears her mom's voice for the first time in weeks. She sounds tired. Full. Unlike herself- for understandable reasons, Nile thinks.</p>
<p class="western">Joe clears his throat. 'Mrs Freeman?'</p>
<p class="western">'This is she.' Her mom's voice is questioning, almost hostile.</p>
<p class="western">Joe looks over to Nile, waiting for her cue. This would only go on for as long as Nile wanted it to. Nile nods wordlessly for him to continue, hands still clasped to her mouth, a tear running down the back of her hand as Nicky rubs comforting circles to her back.</p>
<p class="western">'I'm calling from the water board, we have had reports of a leak in your area- are you available to run your faucet for a few moments?'</p>
<p class="western">'My water is fine, I just made tea.' Nile almost laughs at her mother's indignant tone, but it comes out as a garbled, muffled breath. Her heart is breaking, and she wishes she had had the sense to record this conversation. She catches Joe's warning look but doesn't care anymore.</p>
<p class="western">Joe swallows before continuing -'It won't take a minute; perhaps you can tell me what your water quality is like, for our records?' Joe is fishing now for things to say to create conversation; he hasn't exactly had to do this before.</p>
<p class="western">'Well, its fine- clear and cold, just how its meant to be...' Nile's mother's voice turns low,suspicious. 'Are you sure you're from the water board?'</p>
<p class="western">Joe looks over to Nile, watches how she sucks in a breath, overcome with emotion once more as she looks intently at the phone, as if she can see her mother through it. Her eyes fill with tears again, and Joe knows its enough for her now.</p>
<p class="western">'Thank you for your time, Mrs Freeman.' He shares a look with Nicky as Nile sinks her head onto his partner's shoulder, her own shoulders hitching. 'You've been very helpful'.</p>
<p class="western">'That's alright, goodbye.' Nile hears her Mother's final goodbye, and commits it to memory.</p>
<p class="western">A warming, yet almost choking feels engulfs her. Closure feels like a suffocating blanket, not freeing as she had thought it would be.</p>
<p class="western">The phone goes dead, and Joe takes in a deep breath as he leans and drops it into a pint of water on the glass coffee table in front of them; the phone floats downwards before bobbing back up, bubbles rising as it becomes waterlogged. Useless. Joe will disassemble it later, to stop any possibility that Nile will be able to use it again. He knows Copley will change Nile's mother's number anyway, just to be safe.</p>
<p class="western">He looks to his left, at Nile trying to withhold her sobs in the silence. He knows it has to be hard. It has to be soul-destroying; he too puts a hand on Nile's knee, and inwardly feels a hard weight drop into the pit of his stomach as she clasps it with a shaky hand of her own ,squeezing tightly through her pain.</p>
<p class="western">'Nile?' Nicky finally breaks the reverie between them. He looks down at the girl sobbing on his shoulder, her eyes screwed shut and tears leaking out regardless, and is forcibly reminded of Andy's words when Joe had given her the picture of Nile on the train in Sudan.</p>
<p class="western"><em>Jesus. She's just a baby</em>.</p>
<p class="western">Nile sits up, clearing her throat as she wipes red-rimmed eyes, her gut a storm of pain and grief and a growing sense of inescapable, crushing perpetuity. Her mother. Her brother. Her father- everyone she ever cared about. Gone. Forever.</p>
<p class="western">Joe passes her a small glass of water; Nile looks at it with disdain. Nicky reaches to his table, passes her a small tumbler of amber liquid. She accepts with a wry smile, downs it in one gulp, before taking the proffered water and swishing it around her mouth.</p>
<p class="western">'Plenty more in the mini bar.' Nicky offers, shrugging as Nile leans back into the leather sofa, eyes shut.</p>
<p class="western">'All on Copley's dime, too.' Joe reminds her, grateful to see Nile roll her eyes as she looks up at them, much like her usual self...</p>
<p class="western">Suddenly Nile sighs and clasps both men's hands to her own, bringing them both to rest on her knees. She doesn't say anything. She doesn't need to.</p>
<p class="western">As they sit again in silence, Nile thinks. She may have lost her family, and she knew it was going to be a hard road processing and accepting that. But she has gained one, too. A ragtag bunch, sure, but a family nonetheless.</p>
<p class="western">And for that she is grateful.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading!<br/>Please comment/kudos, I'd really love to know what you think!<br/>Until next time...</p></blockquote></div></div>
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